


staged like an open house

by imnotinclinedtomaturity



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Tumblr: phandomficfests, only one bed trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 15:10:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15488664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imnotinclinedtomaturity/pseuds/imnotinclinedtomaturity
Summary: Dan and Phil are relieved to have a night in a hotel after several nights on the bus. Phil is ready to relax in bed with his boyfriend, but Dan is determined to film first. The only problem is, they accidentally get a room with only one bed.





	staged like an open house

**Author's Note:**

> as always, a thanks to the wonderful [ auroraphilealis ](%E2%80%9Cauroraphilealis.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D)for reading, beta-ing and encouraging me to rewrite the whole fic from phil’s pov instead of dan’s when i mentioned that i originally started it that way. the title came as a result of elizajane and i sorta just playing word association with each other and i threw ‘staged like an opened house’ out as a joke and she really liked it and i’m outta fucks, so here we are now lol. I wrote this for the @phandomficfest trope subversion challenge :)

After so many nights in a row on the bus, in separate _tiny_ bunk beds, Phil couldn’t wait to sprawl out on a double bed with his boyfriend. The bus wasn’t ideal for privacy — or even just _closeness_ for that matter. A few times during the past week, Dan had crawled down into Phil’s bunk in the middle of the night. And while Phil enjoyed _any_ time that he got to spend close to Dan, those nights hadn’t been the most comfortable. 

It would be awhile before Dan and Phil could relax in bed together, though. Dan was determined to film a video for his main channel before the night was out, and they had plans for dinner with Martyn and Marianne in a few hours. 

The hotel room door gave out a quiet _beep_ as Dan tapped his key to the handle. He pushed open the door and stepped aside, letting Phil, who only had a backpack, go ahead of him. 

“Need help?” Phil asked, nodding to the large suitcase that Dan needed to wrangle through the door.

“It’s fine, go ahead.” Dan reached for the handle of the suitcase and pulled sharply; the wheels smacked into the lip of the doorframe and caused the suitcase to roll back. 

Biting back a laugh at Dan’s struggles, Phil continued into the room, eager to flop down onto a proper, _stationary_ bed. He froze at the end of the small hallway, though, as he took in the room.

The room with only _one_ bed.

“Dan?” Phil called, his voice coming out high pitched and _just_ this side of alarmed. Turning back around, Phil saw that Dan was still trying to maneuver their luggage. Every single time, Dan insisted that it would be easier if they just _shared_ a bag, but every _single time_ , it ended up too heavy and overpacked for them to easily manage. 

“What?” Dan shouted back — well, more like _gasped_ because he was so out of breath from his fight with the suitcase. 

“Didn’t you tell Marianne that you wanted two beds tonight so that you could film?” Phil glanced back at the hotel room, half-heartedly hoping that a second bed would have appeared while he was turned away.

“Yeah?” Dan asked, sounding confused, but he didn’t look up.

Phil knew Dan had his heart set on filming today, and that Dan didn’t think the bus _fit the aesthetic_ of his main channel. He really didn’t want to have to break it to Dan that filming might not work out like he’d hoped today. Phil bit his lip and continued vaguely, “There must have been a mix up then.”

With a final tug, Dan finally pulled their suitcase inside their room and let the door slam shut behind him. “What are you on ab—?” Dan asked as he turned around, only to cut himself off when he took in the room. 

Phil watched the confusion on Dan’s face contort into disappointment.

“Oh,” Dan said flatly. His shoulders slumped, and he took a small step backwards — it was like he was physically rejecting the room.

“I can ask Marianne to talk to the front desk,” Phil offered, already pulling out his phone to send her a text. She’d made the reservation, and if anyone could get it fixed, it was probably her. 

“Don’t,” Dan snapped back. 

Phil knew the irritation in his voice had more to do with _stress_ than _Phil_ , but that didn’t stop him from flinching away. 

Dan’s eyes flickered from the singular bed to Phil. “Sorry,” Dan added more softly, a chagrined look on his face. “I just mean that she deserves a few hours without dealing with us before dinner.”

Phil nodded understandingly; Dan was right — Marianne had been doing a _lot_ for them recently and she probably was just as desperate to introvert and relax as Phil was. “I can go talk to them, then,” Phil suggested. “The room’s not in our names, but I can try.” 

Without waiting for a response, Phil sidestepped around Dan — and their massive suitcase — and made for the door.

Dan caught Phil’s arm before he could go anywhere, though. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Dan insisted. His words were nice, but his grip on Phil’s arm was just a _little_ too tight, and his voice was just a bit _too_ tense. After knowing Dan for nearly a decade, Phil could feel the stress and frustration seeping out of Dan.

“You could film at the desk?” Phil pointed to the ugly piece of furniture that was more like a tall table with a chair than a desk, already knowing that Dan wouldn’t like it as a backdrop.

“Maybe,” Dan said tersely, finally moving past Phil and further into the room.

Phil watched him pace up and down the small room for a moment before he shifted their suitcase onto the luggage rack and unzipped it. It appeared they were staying.

“You could always say we got two rooms,” Phil suggested weakly. 

They’d had to do it before, and even taken some great measures to make it look real, but they hadn’t done it on the American leg of the tour, and Phil was pretty sure that neither of them were keen to do it now if they didn’t have to. 

They would do what they had to do, though. They always did. 

Dan came to a sudden stop halfway to Phil. With an exasperated shake of his head, Dan sighed and rubbed his palms down his face. “Just go take your shower while I set up.”

Phil eyed Dan apprehensively, trying to figure out if this was one of the moments that Dan _said_ he wanted to be alone but actually wanted Phil to stay close, or if he genuinely did want a bit of space. The question was answered for him when Dan made a _shoo_ motion with his hands, his lips tipping up into something that resembled a smile.

Obediently, Phil dug his toiletry kit out of their luggage and retreated to the bathroom. Hopefully when he came back out, Dan would be in a better mood. Or at least have solved his problem.

The bathroom had a large tub — a tub clearly made for a couple — and Phil decided almost _immediately_ that he was going to cajole Dan into taking a bath together tonight. Maybe that would help Dan feel better about the room mix up. Surely a room with two beds wouldn’t have this kind of bathtub in it.

****

Phil kept his shower short, only doing the bare minimum so that they could relax together in the bath later. When he came out of the bathroom again, Dan was rifling through their shared suitcase. Phil crept up behind him, and started looking for a pair of pajama pants he could wear while Dan filmed.

“Ah hah,” Dan muttered when he finally found what he was looking for. He brushed passed Phil, making his way to the otherside of the room.

“What’ya doing?” Phil asked through a yawn. Maybe he’d knock off to Martyn’s room and nap while Dan filmed.

Carefully, Dan arranged the object — Phil’s glasses, as it turned out — on one of the nightstands. 

“Staging my video,” he answered quietly. He fidgeted with the glasses a minute longer than necessary before he looked up at Phil. His eyes were wide and hesitant, a glint of anxiety sparkling in them.

Phil’s gaze drifted from Dan’s eyes to the camera, which was angled at the bed. It was sat far enough back, that Phil was certain that it was capturing both the single bed and the two nightstands.

Two nightstands that Dan had littered with their belongings.

Each table had a water bottle on it. The bottle on Dan’s nightstand was opened and half empty, and his phone was charging face down next to it, along with the voice steamer thing that he was so obsessed with. On Phil’s nightstand, the bottle was surrounded by Phil’s opened, upside down glasses. It was fairly subtle, sure, but it was clear that one nightstand belonged to Phil.

And one belonged to Dan.

And they were framing the same bed.

Any confidence that Dan had seemed to drip away the longer Phil was silent. “Do you hate it?” Dan whispered eventually.

“Of course not,” Phil promised, his eyes snapping back to Dan’s face. He forced his face into something _softer_ as he crossed the room and came to a stop next to Dan. There was still apprehension written in Dan’s face — he was clearly worried about Phil’s reaction. Phil wasn’t angry, though; if anything, he was proud of the decision that Dan was making.

“Are you sure? I just figured that — I mean, I know that — Well, I can —” Dan babbled, starting and stopping his own thoughts over and over. 

Phil pressed a warm hand to Dan’s cheek, which effectively stopped his rambling.

“Dan, love,” Phil murmured. The thumb of Phil’s hand stroked back and forth on Dan’s cheek in a practiced motion that Phil knew always calmed Dan down. “What was our new year’s resolution?” he asked patiently, eyebrows raised and voice soft. 

Dan squeezed his eyes shut. “But it was my idea, I don’t want to push you. I don’t mind —”

“Dan,” Phil interrupted gently. “I agreed, remember? Film your video however you want.”

Dan pried his eyes open and glanced back at the two nightstands — and the items on top that made it _very_ clear that each nightstand belonged to a separate boy. Dan looked back at Phil, his lip tugged between his teeth, and hesitantly asked, “Be more open?” 

“Be more open,” Phil agreed, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to Dan’s lips.

 

**Author's Note:**

> like and reblog on tumblr 


End file.
